Mercy Corps of Portland to direct West Bank rebuilding program

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, September 23, 2002

PORTLAND -- Mercy Corps has opened two offices in the West Bank, where a $4.4 million reconstruction program will serve 60,000 people during the next two years, organization officials said.

The program, backed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, will focus on the rebuilding of schools and community infrastructure. Program managers from the Portland-based Mercy Corps are hoping to start up parent-teacher associations, build new classrooms and provide jobs for the unemployed in the war-torn region.

Stephen Claborne, director of Mercy Corps Middle East program operations, said two new offices, one in Jerusalem and one in Hebron, will coordinate the building of new classrooms at nine schools in the area. More schools could be added to the project.

Claborne said the program is particularly timely with an increase in checkpoints and a curfew imposed by the Israeli government.

"I think given the situation with lack of employment, and the inability to move, people are really concerned with their families, with their children. They have no political or economic hopes, so they are keeping their hopes up by getting their kids to school," he said.

Along with the offices, Mercy Corps has donated $20,000 to the Dura medical clinic, located between Hebron and Dura. Clinic donations were provided by private donors in Portland.

The facility is open at night, so that people who are unable to reach the hospital in Hebron because of the curfew can still receive treatment. It serves 100 villages, has two operating rooms, delivers babies and provides general emergency treatment.

Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided millions of dollars in assistance to 74 countries. The aid agency helps people struck by emergency or conflict and fosters sustainable communities and peace efforts.

The last Mercy Corps program in the West Bank was implemented in 1980.

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Krishna Sob, another Mercy Corps senior program officer for the Middle East, said the new program is badly needed.

"In this current crisis, people have lost their jobs, the economy has been shattered -- which has a direct impact on families, women and children," he said.